Rundown
by fandombloggingaddict
Summary: Glenn and Rick have been searching for their lost group member for a while now. They hadn't expected to find anything in this place...


This place was frigid, cold, dark. A seemingly empty factory that had been rundown for years before the dead started walking. Rick pushed through the rusty side door carefully, avoiding broken glass and rubble as he entered the building. Glenn followed him in as the rest of the group waited in a secured house a few miles away. Rick and Glenn, the two unofficial leaders, were currently searching the fifth building in as many hours. They were tired. The ex-sheriff lifted his pistol as he heard an echoed sound deep within the refines of the factory, but the sound died and the two men advanced. A moment later they heard the sound again, twice. It sounded distant and low. Assuming it was a walker stuck in some machinery to moan uselessly, they continued to walk until they came to a metal staircase. They went up, seeing as the limited light streaming in from the crumbling ceiling would only allow for a search of the top floor. Not that that made the search any more feasible; the place was huge.

After searching the first few offices and observation decks, there was that sound again. Closer. Louder. Now, it sounded like an animal.

"Maybe there's a cat stuck under something up there," Glenn whispered to cut the tension of the search.

Rick grunted in response. Didn't matter what it was, just that it didn't get in the way.

They cleared a storage room and a room full of broken down parts before they heard it again. It was longer this time, closer still, and it got louder before it stopped. Rick leaned over the rails to scan the lower level, but all was still in those inky shadows.

One more cleared room, and it rose again. It was definitely on this floor. It was definitely something alive.

It was a scream.

Rick and Glenn glanced at each other, then headed toward the end of the floor. They were going faster now, just enough to get to the door at the end of the building before the next sound.

This time, another scream cut through the air, but it was cut off in a few seconds, muffled. Rick and Glenn listened hard. They heard panicked breathing and a whimper. Rick coked his brow at Glenn. A question. Is it worth it to investigate this?

Glenn looked wary. This is an unnecessary risk at the end of a long day. It was probably just someone turning.

Rick nodded. They began to back up carefully, turning around and heading back toward the stairs.

The next sound made them freeze. It was a slightly quieter sound, but more pained. Just a choked sob. Before it could morph into a cry of pain, they heard a punch and a grunt. That sound of distress... it sounded familiar. Rick got this foul, roiling feeling in the pit of his stomach. It reminded him of sorrow and rage and loss... it reminded him so vaguely of pain and horror...

Daryl. It sounded like Daryl when he lost hope. How his voice broke when he screamed over the severed hand of his brother. His yell for Sophia when Carol had truly lost the girl. Rick and Glenn exchanged a look so wrought with anticipation that they were both trying to express the exact same realization.

They'd found him.

The suddenly hyper-aware survivors spun on their heels and returned to the door. Rick grabbed the door handle and pulled it, yanking the door open. He raised his gun and trained it on the man standing... the one with his arm strangling Daryl's neck.

Daryl was hard to see. The light was feeble in here. The hunter was bloody and dirty. He was tied to a chair by rope and the chair itself moved an inch every few seconds as he convulsed without oxygen.

"Thought I heard something out there. Can never be too careful," The man choking his captive said conversationally, then shrugged. "Oh, well. I wasn't getting much out of him, anyway. I assume he's yours?"

"Get away from him or you die."

"He'd dead in 20 seconds anyway, so I really don't have to do anything."

"MOVE!"

"15 seconds. Oh, look, he's stopped jerking. He's probably tired. You know, I've been doing this for a long time. He's so stubborn, didn't even make a sound for the first few days. 7 seconds."

"GET BACK!"

"You have 5 seconds to step off or he dies." The man holding Daryl threatened.


End file.
